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REPORT ON THE CHALLENGE - 3
July 1, 1965
At about 3:00 P.M. a new message was delivered to the delegation from the Clerk.
The funeral story was dropped, and this time he said he knew nothing of his 10:00
A.M. appointment and, having just learned about it, could not see them but offered
an appointment for Monday anytime. Again the delegation pointed out the expense
they had already gone to and that they could not afford to stay another two days
and, since they had a written appointment, they would wait that day until the
Clerk could get to his office. At U:30 when the Capitol officially closes, ten
Mississippians were arrested for "illegal entryi" They are Mrs. Victoria Gray
(Hattiesburg), Mrs, Mildred Cosey (Vicksburg), Mrs. Nellie Applewhite (Coila),
Mrs. Lillie Willis (Anguilla), Mrs. Ernestine Washington (Vicksburg), Mr. Andrew
Hawkins (Shaw), Mr. Roosevelt Vaughn (Starkville), Mr. James Graham (Starkville),
and Mr. David Cattlin (Redwood). All were held on $500 bail, which could not be
raised at that time, and they stayed in jail until their arraignment on Monday.
On Monday, their attorney, Professor Herbert Reed of Howard University Law School,
demanded a jury trial which was set for the following Monday, June 28th, and all
were bonded out at $300 bail.
After the arraignment, the group went to the Capitol to make a statement to the
press. They received a message that the Clerk was willing to see them. The
group then made the statement: "On Saturday we attempted to keep a written appointment with the Clerk and were arrested. We have been deceived on three different
occasions by the Clerk or his representatives and have completely lost faith in
the integrity or good faith of the Clerk or his office. Consequently we can see
no reason to attempt to see the Clerk now since we can believe very little of
what he says. We did not come to Washington to demonstrate or to sit-in. We
attempted to see the Clerk on business in which we are all involved very personally. We found that because we were Negroes and poor people we were treated
with contempt and disrespect. We have no wish to be abused further by the Clerk
or his assistants."
On June 28th the Mississippians appeared in court only to find that the Judge was
postponing the case to July 12th, one of the reasons being that the subpoenas
issued to Clerk Ralph Roberts and. his assistant, Benjamin Guthrie, were inexplicably lost.
The case for the Mississippians was planned around proving in open court that the'
Clerk had lied to the people, had told them different stories and treated them
with disrespect and contempt; that they were not sitting in and had a written
appointment giving them every right to be there; and that they had come to Washington hotr-to .sit in, but to participate in activities which directly affected
their lives.
Democratic Study Group Supports Printing: Again our supporters started letter-
writing campaigns urging printing and the Congressmen responded. After the
initial Congressional press conference, the issue was brought up at the Democratic Study Group. Through the question of printing and the active lobbying
done in behalf of the MFDP, new support started.to emerge from Congress. First,
Emanuel Celler, who is chairman of the Civil Rights Committee of the DSG agreed
to express to the Clerk and the Speaker his desire to see all material printed.
Also the Executive Committee of the DSG sent a letter to the Clerk urging printing. Signers of that letter were Frank Thompson (N.J.), Chairman, Philip
Burton (Cal.), John Blatnik (Minn.), Ed Edmondson (Okla.), William Moorhead (Pa.),

All the documents in this folder address the Congressional Challenge. Included in it are: Mendy Samstein's notes on plans and the rationale for the Congressional Challenge. A typed calendar for the Congressional Challenge. An MFDP pamphlet on the subject. Martin Luther King's statement of support for the Congressional Challenge. Newspaper clippings on the subject. An MFDP fact sheet about it. MFDP legal documents on the legal validity of the challenge and on the history of contested elections. William Fitts Ryan's December 22, 1964, statement on the seating of the Mississippi congressional delegation. Lawrence Guyot's outline of steps to be taken in the Congressional Challenge. Fannie Lou Hamer's legal challenge to the election of Jamie Whitten which includes statistics on the disproportionate voter registrations of whites vs. blacks in Mississippi and a listing of various violent acts (including Hamer's own police beating) under a "reign of terror" designed to intimidate African Americans from participating in elections. An MFDP reprint of James Roosevelt's statement in the January 4, 1965, issue of the Congressional Record whose headline is "They Cannot Win 'Elections' from a System Based on Murder." William Colmer's statement on the Congressional Challenge. A January 17, 1965, MFDP progress report on the challenge. Rules for taking depositions from officials involved in suppressing the African American vote in Mississippi. A description and transcription of a documentary on the Congressional Challenge. A March 1965 MFDP progress report. March 1965 statements by Lawrence Guyot, denying that the MFDP wants to be a third party. On May 17, 1965, James Farmer offers CORE's support for the Congressional Challenge, Martin Luther King offers SCLC's support, and John Lewis offers SNCC's. A May 17, 1965, press release by the MFDP on the submission of its 600+ depositions about obstacles placed in the way of African American voters in Mississippi. An MFDP reprint of an article from the Nation by a lawyer who had taken some of the depositions. A July 1965 MFDP progress report details Clerk of the House of Representatives Ralph R. Roberts' obstruction of the challenge by refusing to print the depositions in a timely fashion, his refusal to meet with MFDP representatives, and finally, his order to have all the MFDP visitors arrested. Sample MFDP ballot for the August 17, 1965, election. A press release from a California congressman announcing that he and several other congressmen had set a deadline of September 21 for resolution of the congressional challenge; a list of congressional representatives supporting the challenge is included. An indignant, but unattributed, document about a 5-member Committee on Administration, meeting in secret, on the Mississippi Challenge's effort to dismiss the charges. A September 1965 MFDP document called "The Mississippi Challenge Trip: A Primer" details the obstacles to the Mississippi Challenge so far and announces a mass lobbying effort and vigil in Washington D.C. by African Americans from Mississippi. James Farmer's September 9, 1965, memo to CORE members urges them to call their representatives to support the Congressional Challenge. Similar missives come from the National Council of Churches' Robert W. Spike, Martin Luther King, and MFDP's Mike Thelwell. The September 14, 1965, statement on the Congressional Challenge by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights urges the House to vote against the motion to dismiss the challenge. A reprint of the September 17, 1965, Congressional Report on dismissing the five contested congressional elections. Lists of the congressional representatives' votes on this issue. An MFDP report, following the Congressional Challenge's defeat, on the events in Washington of September 13-18, 1965. A copy of Freedom Primer No. 3--The Right to Vote and the Congressional Challenge--concludes the materials in this folder.

Copyright to these documents belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. The principal organizations have been defunct for many years and copyright to their unpublished records is uncertain. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. We have attempted to contact individuals who created personal papers of significant length or importance. Nearly all have generously permitted us to include their work. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited.

REPORT ON THE CHALLENGE - 3
July 1, 1965
At about 3:00 P.M. a new message was delivered to the delegation from the Clerk.
The funeral story was dropped, and this time he said he knew nothing of his 10:00
A.M. appointment and, having just learned about it, could not see them but offered
an appointment for Monday anytime. Again the delegation pointed out the expense
they had already gone to and that they could not afford to stay another two days
and, since they had a written appointment, they would wait that day until the
Clerk could get to his office. At U:30 when the Capitol officially closes, ten
Mississippians were arrested for "illegal entryi" They are Mrs. Victoria Gray
(Hattiesburg), Mrs, Mildred Cosey (Vicksburg), Mrs. Nellie Applewhite (Coila),
Mrs. Lillie Willis (Anguilla), Mrs. Ernestine Washington (Vicksburg), Mr. Andrew
Hawkins (Shaw), Mr. Roosevelt Vaughn (Starkville), Mr. James Graham (Starkville),
and Mr. David Cattlin (Redwood). All were held on $500 bail, which could not be
raised at that time, and they stayed in jail until their arraignment on Monday.
On Monday, their attorney, Professor Herbert Reed of Howard University Law School,
demanded a jury trial which was set for the following Monday, June 28th, and all
were bonded out at $300 bail.
After the arraignment, the group went to the Capitol to make a statement to the
press. They received a message that the Clerk was willing to see them. The
group then made the statement: "On Saturday we attempted to keep a written appointment with the Clerk and were arrested. We have been deceived on three different
occasions by the Clerk or his representatives and have completely lost faith in
the integrity or good faith of the Clerk or his office. Consequently we can see
no reason to attempt to see the Clerk now since we can believe very little of
what he says. We did not come to Washington to demonstrate or to sit-in. We
attempted to see the Clerk on business in which we are all involved very personally. We found that because we were Negroes and poor people we were treated
with contempt and disrespect. We have no wish to be abused further by the Clerk
or his assistants."
On June 28th the Mississippians appeared in court only to find that the Judge was
postponing the case to July 12th, one of the reasons being that the subpoenas
issued to Clerk Ralph Roberts and. his assistant, Benjamin Guthrie, were inexplicably lost.
The case for the Mississippians was planned around proving in open court that the'
Clerk had lied to the people, had told them different stories and treated them
with disrespect and contempt; that they were not sitting in and had a written
appointment giving them every right to be there; and that they had come to Washington hotr-to .sit in, but to participate in activities which directly affected
their lives.
Democratic Study Group Supports Printing: Again our supporters started letter-
writing campaigns urging printing and the Congressmen responded. After the
initial Congressional press conference, the issue was brought up at the Democratic Study Group. Through the question of printing and the active lobbying
done in behalf of the MFDP, new support started.to emerge from Congress. First,
Emanuel Celler, who is chairman of the Civil Rights Committee of the DSG agreed
to express to the Clerk and the Speaker his desire to see all material printed.
Also the Executive Committee of the DSG sent a letter to the Clerk urging printing. Signers of that letter were Frank Thompson (N.J.), Chairman, Philip
Burton (Cal.), John Blatnik (Minn.), Ed Edmondson (Okla.), William Moorhead (Pa.),

Copyright to these documents belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. The principal organizations have been defunct for many years and copyright to their unpublished records is uncertain. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. We have attempted to contact individuals who created personal papers of significant length or importance. Nearly all have generously permitted us to include their work. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited.